Catholic school lawsuit claims mask mandate shields ‘God’s image and likeness’

Mask mandates in schools have become a political and social debate, but the rules are now becoming a religious flashpoint after a Michigan Catholic school claimed that the requirement interferes with “God’s image and likeness.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati is hearing the appeal from the Resurrection School in Lansing, Michigan, and two parents after they filed their original lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in October 2020. In December, the court denied the school’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the mask mandate. The school filed an appeal two days later.

In the original lawsuit filed, the school argued against the state-imposed mask mandate on religious grounds, saying it ultimately interferes with Catholic education.

“Unfortunately, a mask shields our humanity,” the lawsuit read. “And because God created us in His image, we are masking that image.”

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